Marijuana Industry News

The number of cannabis jobs is growing faster than jobs in any other field, according to the CEO of a leading company that connects businesses with employees.

“You know what the fastest-growing job category in the United States is?” Ian Siegel, CEO of ZipRecruiter.com, toldForbes: “Marijuana.”

Legal marijuana has seen “445 percent job growth in job listings in the category year over year,” Siegel said at a U.S. News & World Report conference. To put that into perspective, he added that tech positions are at 245 percent growth and healthcare jobs are up 70 percent.

Los Angeles Has The Most Cannabis Jobs

According to a ZipRecruiter analysis on job postings earlier this year, the top metro area for cannabis jobs is Los Angeles. L.A. isn’t the only bright spot in the state. San Francisco comes in at #2 on the cannabis jobs list. San Jose is at #8 and Santa Barbara at #9.

Other cities on the cannabis jobs Top 10 include Denver at #3 and Seattle at #4. Miami surged ahead of Portland, Oregon to take #5, with Las Vegas coming in at #7. Tallahassee, Florida is at #10. Florida legalized medical marijuana in 2016.

The U.S. cannabis industry employs between 165,000 and 230,000 full- and part-time workers, according to the Marijuana Business Factbook 2017. Last year, the number of cannabis jobs surpassed the number of dental hygienists and bakers in the United States,according toMarijuana Business Daily. The publication predicted last June that weed employees will soon outnumber both telemarketers and pharmacists.

Dawn Franklin, an aesthetician, performs a facial on Maria Harris using CBD-infused cleansers, masks, and oils at Joy’s Spa on Monday, March 26, 2018, in Washington, DC. Cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-psychoactive compound of cannabis, is growing in popularity in the health and wellness world. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Will Education Keep Up?

According to Siegel, the dizzying growth of cannabis jobs shows that the education system can’t always foresee workforce trends. As shown by current events, those workforce trends can change dramatically even during the four years someone is getting a college degree. In terms of education for cannabis jobs, there’s Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California, but many cannabis jobs are still learned the old-fashioned way—by doing them.